Zac Efron Replaces Shia LaBeouf In The Necessary Death Of Charlie Countryman

It's strange, but it would appear that Zac Efron may actually be one of the few child actors to make a smooth transition into a legitimate acting career. While so many former Disney stars have their 15-minutes of fame before burning out, Efron has successfully lowered his teen heartthrob profile in recent years and taken on more serious projects like Die In A Gunfight and the remake of the Swedish film Snabba Cash. Now he's added another project to his upcoming slate in the same vein.

The Playlist reports that Efron is now attached to The Necessary Death Of Charlie Countryman, replacing Shia LaBeouf - another former Disney star - who was signed on to the project last year. Efron will play a young man who travels to Europe after the death of his mother. While abroad, he meets a girl and falls in love, but she happens to be involved with a crime boss. Feeling the need to protect her, he decides to fight, both to win her heart and protect her. The project was written by Matt Drake, who also penned the upcoming secret Todd Phillips film Project X, but doesn't currently have a director attached.

Someone out there can feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but does this sound a little bit like Scott Pilgrim vs. The World with one major boss battle instead of seven? It's entirely possible that they will go a different approach with it - for example, an R rating and no references to video games - but it does seem eerily similar. Guess we'll just have to wait and see how it works out.